TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Senior guard La'Deja James scored 19 points to lead the Norfolk State women's basketball team over the Florida A&M Rattlers 69-62 at the Al Lawson Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Spartans (16-9, 10-2 MEAC) took control from the jump, scoring 19 straight points to start the game. NSU went 11-of-19 (57.9%) in the opening period, while holding FAMU (5-20, 3-11 MEAC) to shoot just 3-of-9 (33%). The Spartans came out dishing the ball, with seven of their 17 assists coming in the first quarter. James went 4-of-5 (80%) in the period to score the first eight of her game-high 19 points. The dominant quarter by the Spartans put them ahead 23-6 at the end of one.

The Rattlers found their offense in the second, outscoring the Spartans 18-16. The Spartans continued their hot shooting, going 8-of-13 (61.5%) from the field. The Rattlers were able to gain some ground by getting to the free-throw line, while starting some foul trouble for the Spartans. Because of the lopsided first quarter, the Spartans held a 15-point 39-24 lead heading into the break.

The Spartans came out on fire to start the second half, once again having a highly-efficient quarter by shooting 10-of-15 (66.7%) from the field. They started the half on a 10-1 run capped off by an Armani Franklin layup with 6:52 left in the third, which gave the Spartans their largest lead of the game at 24 points. NSU headed into the final period with a 59-41 lead.

The Rattlers made it very interesting in the fourth, outscoring the Spartans 21-10. The Spartans went cold in the final quarter, going 3-of-12 (25%) from the floor after shooting 62% in the first three quarters. The Spartans did not help themselves at the free-throw line, going 4-of-12 in the final quarter. The Rattlers were down 20 points at the 6:53 mark, a lead they cut to just five points with 36 seconds left in the game. James went 3-of-4 from the charity-stripe in the final 30 seconds to ice the game as the Spartans held on for the 69-62 win.

James led the Spartans by shooting 8-of 10 for 19 points, while also dishing out five assists. Chanette Hicks added 13 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Mikaela Jones had her sixth double-figure game of the season, scoring 12 points to go along with five rebounds. Franklin scored eight points, while Blaire Thomas was just shy of a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds.

As a team, the Spartans had their second-best shooting performance of the season by going 32-of-59 (54.2%) from the field. NSU's 16 steals were the most they've had in the past six games, coincidentally with 18 steals in their previous game against FAMU. Rebounding was fairly even, with FAMU grabbing 34 and the Spartans 36.

The Spartans travel to Daytona Monday to take on Bethune-Cookman, with a shot to gain a share of first-place in the conference.